A Misguided Grief
by Sweettweet07
Summary: " He remembered the impact that pushed them directly into the heavy flow rapids beside the road. He remembered her face just before the current buried her. She looked fearless, brave and stubborn to not let herself drown. " After two years, they haven't found her body. Usui is ready to accept her death, but could she be alive? No death is proven if no corpse is found.
1. Denial

Hi, I'm back after two years of absence and I'm here to stay! Hope you enjoy this one :)

* * *

Normal character : Present  
_Italic : Past_

* * *

He hated to remember… but couldn't stand to forget.

He couldn't stand to forget her smile, her touch.

Because to forget is to accept, and acceptance is the last step towards final grief.

But he didn't want to grieve, not yet.

" _You're insane. Why did you think I would have accepted it…"_

_Misaki asked, still embarrassed about their evening. She didn't like attention, especially not from a whole restaurant. _

"_Because I love you, you love me. We have been going out since college, I though it was the normal course of thing"_

Usui sighed, thinking that she would have appreciated the normal course of thing much more than the outcome of that rainy night. He recalled the way he knee down and proposed to her. Seeing the scene, the waitress decided to shout out to the whole restaurant that the couple was getting engaged and that the champagne was on the house before even Misaki gave him a response. He still remembered how annoyed she was but how little he cared about it. "She will marry me one day, maybe not tonight, but definitely one day" he had thought to himself. He couldn't have been more wrong…

"_The normal course was to move in together not getting married!" She exhaled sharply._

"_Oh so now you're ready to move in with me, how sweet of you" He teased her, his amuse gaze flicking towards her on the passenger seat._

_Her lips twitched, fighting a smile. Over the years, she got used to his silly remarks and even found a way to enjoy half of them. _

"…_Yes I'm ready. Now look at the road, you wouldn't want our soon-to-be married asses to get into an accident"_

He remembered how her comment made him laugh and how they both laughed for a time that seemed to be infinite. She would always turned something romantic into a crude thought, just like mixing the thought of them married and the thought of them injured.

"_Okay, see, I'm looking at the road. Too bad for me, now I can't admire your beautiful cleavage"_

_She delicately punched him while she fixed her dress. And he laughed, and she laughed, and they laughed…_

He remembered how unusual the trajectory of the car driving in the opposite direction was and how the car's lights became suddenly blinding.

"_USUI, LOOK OUT!" _

He remembered her alarming scream. He remembered how hopeless he was towards the situation and how clueless he was on how to avoid the unavoidable. He remembered the loud impact of the two cars, the impact that pushed them directly into the heavy flow rapids beside the road.

The car waltzed slowly into the depths of the river, but the current was so strong that it brought them back on the surface.

He remembered her face just before the current buried her. She didn't look scared, neither frightened. She looked fearless, brave and stubborn to not let herself drown. But there was this one last second, that instant when she looked at Usui. Her eyes were wide-open, horror in it. He saw her shout something but couldn't hear what she was trying to let him know.

And then nothing. Just a blank.

This was the last time he saw her.

"_Hello Sir? Can you hear me?"_

_Usui tried to speak, but his lungs were still irritated by the water. He opened his eyes and immediately closed them because of the flashlights from the policemen. _

"_Just take it slow, you seriously hit you head on a rock when you were on the river" One officer instructed him. _

_River. _

_Rock. _

_Car crash._

_It didn't sink in at first. He rubbed his head where he was hurt as the words clicked one by one in his head. _

"_M-Misaki…" He whispered as he tried to stand up but two men stopped him to do so._

"_Sir, there's a strong possibility you have a concussion, it's better not to move until the ambulance arrives" _

_But Usui didn't care, he stood up and ran closer to the river as his mind became clearer and clearer. He searched the shore and turned around to face one cop. _

"_There was a women with me in the crash, is one of your men with her?" He asked tersely. _

_The policemen looked at him, at first confused but not for too long. He quickly understood that there was a still a person missing. He immediately took his intercom strapped to his uniform._

"_To all teams, we have a 5-42. I need back up to Old Oak's river"_

_Usui watched everyone rushing around, as he stood there totally helpless. His eyes went blank, curiously dead._

He remembered the cops trying to hold him back to dive into the river. He remembered how demented he looked, how irrational his thoughts were.

A total of three hunts over one week had been done to search for her.

As time went by, his hopes slowly faded away but not his naïve optimism.

People had a noun for that phase of grief: _Denial_.

Even if he could deny all he wanted; he knew it wouldn't bring her back.

But over time, denial was the only that kept him strong, that kept him going on. He knew the minute he would accept her death, would be the minute he would had given up on her.

And since the first minute he saw her, he had decided to never give up on her.

Two years later, that's the thought that occurred to him while he was staring at the river that had once drowned his love. Calm and serene, he was rolling her engagement ring between his fingers. He reminisced all the good times they had, how beautiful she looked. He knew he had to give up and finally accept what happened. Because as long as her death wasn't a truth to him, his life would be a lie.

He took glanced at the horizon and lowered his head to the ring for the last time.

He then arched his arm and threw the ring the further he could.

* * *

The ring followed the current as the river plunged into a lake not too far away. One modest residence had the chance to have the exclusive view of this lake. But one of its resident didn't make the most of the view. Confined for most of the day in the smallest room of the house, she rarely saw the sun.

The other resident was calling her his divine gift, but she was calling herself :

His hostage.

* * *

So here's the first chapter, I have pretty much the whole story in my head. Let me know if it's worth continuing !


	2. Falsified

Hi everyone, so chapter 2 is up! Thanks for all the good reviews, it helped be continued the story ! Hope you like this chapter :)

* * *

_He glanced at the horizon and lowered his head to the ring for the last time._

_He then arched his arm and threw the ring the further he could._

_The ring followed the current as the river plunged into a lake not too far away. One modest residence had the chance to have the exclusive view of this lake. But one of its resident didn't make the most of the view. Confined for most of the day in the smallest room of the house, she rarely saw the sun._

_The other resident was calling her his divine gift, but she was calling herself :_

_His hostage._

* * *

**2 years ago**

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see where the sky was.

Water.

Water was surrounding her.

She couldn't hold her breath any longer.

Just when she felt her lungs were about to give up, it seemed like a hand was grabbing her arm.

And then, the hand pulled her out of the river.

She just had time to perceive a strong smell of alcohol before she blacked out.

**-Present-**

"Hey Usui, got a sec?"

It was one of his co-workers at the crime scene department. They all thought of Usui as the mastermind and couldn't go through a case without asking him a question. Not that he minded. In fact, the more he could get busy, the best it was.

"Sure, what's up"

"Could you just validate my cross-profile of the victim? The database gave me two results, and even though I try to be as precise as possible with the criteria, it always came down to these two"

His co-worker, Takashi, laid down his laptop on the desk while he opened the software needed.

"No problem, what's the case?"

"Just another case of a body found in a river. We're running this as a possible murder but the corpse was severly messed up, could be just a case of drowning"

Usui's expression turned hard to the mere thought of a river.

"River… which river?"

Takashi looked at him, a little surpise by this sudden interest. Usui was known for his stoic expression.

"Hum... Old Oak's River in the coutryside"

His heart stopped. Flashbacks from that horrible night resurfaced; memories that he tried desperately to bury over the years.

He abruptly took Takashi's computer to look at the criteria used for the query.

_Approx. 45 years old_

_Man_

_6 foot 3""_

_200 pounds_

_(…)_

He stopped reading the list, kind of relieved but at the same time sad. If _her _body had been found, this would mean that he could have finally made a proper closure of this tragedy.

* * *

"Ok, 15 minutes"

_Finally_, Misaki muttered to herself.

It was the only time of the day that he let her go outside. 15 minutes could be short but it was much more than what she got before. She could still remember their conversation, 2 years ago.

"_Why won't you let me go, you obviously don't want to hurt me since you saved my life"_

_It has been almost 3 days since the car crash occurred. And since then, the man locked her up in a room that seemed to be a cellar but without any wine bottles. _

_He continued to pace in front of her, lost in his thoughts._

"_I can't let you go, it's not an option"_

_From his facial expression, Misaki knew that this guy was mentally instable and she had to be cautious. But cautiousness had never been her thing. _

"_Then why did you save me if it's to confine me in this room and lock me up to the wall"_

_Anger flashed in his eyes. He didn't like his decisions to be questioned. _

"_I was drunk that night."_

_I noticed – Misaki thought to herself, recalling his smell when he pulled her out of the river._

"_Ok…but what does this have anything to do with the present situation"_

_His eyes flickered towards her, a hint of guilt traced on his features._

"_I was the one who hit you, Misaki. My blood alcohol level was over the limit to be able to drive... I… I could go to jail for that"_

_She stared at him in disbelief as she tried to make sense of his words._

_He was the reason why they crashed._

_He was the reason why they dived into the river._

_He was the reason why Usui hit his head on a rock._

_And now, she couldn't even know if he was ok. She clenched her jaw against all the wild accusations she wanted to hurl at him. _

"_And you couldn't go to jail for kidnapping me? I'm no lawyer but I'm pretty sure that liberty is one of the fundamental human rights."_

_He sighed without returning her gaze, his mouth fighting an evil smile._

"_I can't be accused of kidnapping if they don't ever find you"_

_A toxic silence followed his theory. Only compromises could maybe bring him to reason _

"_C'mon that's unreasonable. Just let me go. I swear I won't tell it was you. And even if they do find it was you, you'll just be looking at an infraction of dangerous driving. It's less serious than kidnapping"_

_His face became unexpectedly vulnerable. He bent down as he glared defiantly at her. _

"_Don't you like my company?"_

She remembered the shivers that gave her this question. Since this moment, she knew she couldn't go anywhere else and was trapped with him.

Lost in her thoughts, she hardly saw her 15 minutes outside passed.

"Time's up" He said, inviting her to go back inside the house.

Well, _inviting, _wasn't the appropriate word. _Forcing _herto go back inside would have been more suitable to her present situation.

It's not like she had a choice. She thought of running away the first time he let her go outside. The fresh air and the immensity of the woods were tempting her but the bracelet wrapping on her ankle was a strong motive to do not.

He once explained her that this bracelet could gave different variations of electric shock. One could be so strong that it could be fatal.

She wondered if it was better to stay alive but be his slave for the rest of her life or try to run away but risk to be electroshocked to death.

_Live trapped or,_

_Die free. _

Either way, it's not like someone would be waiting for her, she thought.

"_Don't you like my company?" He asked her, hiding an unforeseen fragility behind his smile._

_At that moment, Misaki understood that this wasn't the first time he has been rejected. Some people have to force people into their loneliness to feel less alone._

"_I do, but I've got to go back to my boyfriend because he must be worried sick right now. But we can still be friends after" She carefully suggested, but her voice edged up a few octaves. She held his gaze, hoping that he didn't notice the lying behind her proposition. _

_She wasn't scared easily, but that kind of situation wasn't destined to put someone at ease. She was fighting for her liberty, and maybe fighting for her life. _

_Suddenly, he fiercely opened the door and she heard him walk quickly upstairs._

_After 10 minutes, he came back into the room, holding a paper in his hands._

_Breathless, he presented her what seemed to be a print of an online article. _

_She had to focus on the images because, with her hands tied to the wall, it was difficult to move closer to the paper._

_She quickly understood that it was an article relating the events of the accident. There were pictures of their car retrieved from the river. _

_He put the paper on her laps, so she could have a better look of what was written. _

_She first red the head title in bold characters. She red it twice, not able to make sense of the words. A strange chaos of letters was forming in her head. _

_The tears began to streak noiselessly down her face and she couldn't even understand what she was reading. And then, everything became clear as the words clicked one by one into place on the white paper._

**Car accident on Old Oak's River - 24 years old man found dead**

_Her eyes were glistening of dry tears. Her heart could have stopped and she wouldn't have even notice. _

_She looked up, blank eyes. She secretly wanted him to tell her it was a misunderstanding. That this wasn't the same river, that it wasn't the same car, but especially… that the 24 years old man wasn't Usui._

"_Seem like you won't be able to go back to your boyfriend now, would you?"_

_She lowered her gaze, still trying to read between the lines of the article. But he immediately took the paper back._

"_I will save you time. In short, your boyfriend is dead and they don't even know that you were in the car with him. I guess it will take time for the authorities to know you're missing…"_

_A howl of rage strangled her lips as sorrow flashed in her eyes._

_She took back all the times she regretted Usui acting has her white knight. She desperately needed him to save her. _

_Because this would have meant that he was still alive. She needed him to save her, she needed him to say everything was going to be okay._

_That was when she began to lose her mind, trapped in a mental prison as insanity was slowly intoxicating her brains._

She went back inside for the daily chores. Every day, two hours were assigned to clean something he chose.

Today was the old study room. Just by the quantity of dust, she deduced that he rarely spent time in it. He explained her that he needed the space to work a project for his job.

After two years, she didn't know what he was doing for living and didn't even know his name. She didn't know … and didn't care.

He locked the door behind her to make sure she wouldn't escape while he was at the grocery store.

She began to scan the room, evaluating the extent of cleaning that had to be done. But her attention quickly drifted to the computer dust-covered on the desk.

She hurried to plug it to see if it was working. As she began to fantasize about Internet and communication with the outside world, she rapidly came back to her senses understanding that the computer was broken.

She sighed, frustrated.

As she stood up, ready to start the cleaning, she noticed a small piece of newspaper near the keyboard. She took it and observed that it had been oddly cut from the original article. It was an advertisement for a brand of cereal but it was not even represented in its totality. She flipped out the piece of paper, understanding that the reason of the cutting must be on the other side.

What she then saw savagely brought her back to the night of the accident as she blankly stared at the picture of Usui's red car, damaged from the crash. It was the same picture shown in the article mentioning his death that her kidnapper showed her two years ago.

She spotted the recycling bin, deciding that it was better to throw the picture than to reminisce the events she so hardly tried to forget.

As she put the picture on top of the other documents present in the recycle bin, she noticed a second piece of newspaper but much more bigger than the one she was holding.

It was a whole article and a rectangle of paper had been cut off from it. She juxtaposed the two papers, realizing that it was the picture of Usui's car that had been cut off from the original article.

She began to read the headline, expecting to read the same tile she red two years ago.

**Car accident on Old Oak's River – The driver survived while the passenger is still missing. **

The information didn't sink in at first and her mind was spinning with confusion. The first thing she realized was that the newspaper she was holding was authentic while the one from two years ago had been falsified.

She stared at the newspaper, still blind to the good news. And then the two words hit her.

**Driver survived**

Extreme relief and bliss overwhelmed her.

_Usui is alive…_

* * *

Another workday to end and Usui despised those moments the most.

Having nothing to do or to get busy with, he would be alone with his only thoughts as his nightmare.

No wonder he often chose to work overtime. But these days, the city has been strangely calm with fewer crimes to investigate.

As he walked to his car, his cellphone vibrated in his pocket.

Relieved, he was prepared to take the call, thinking that there might be hope to work overtime tonight. But he was surprised to discover it was a SMS instead of a phone call.

- 1 new message -

He clicked on the 'read' button, not prepared for what he would read next. His gaze locked onto his screen, he even forgot how to breathe:

- _Still alive, been kidnapped. M.A.-_


	3. Tracking

**Third chapter! You might find that there's a lot of details, but everything was written for a reason. You'll understand it the next chapter which happened to be also the last chapter :) Enjoy!**

* * *

She dressed the table, just like she did every Sunday night. It was the only dinner she was allowed to be out of the cellar. Funny thing it was called a "cellar" because it really felt like a jail _cell_.

Every time she laid down a knife on the table, she unconsciously thought of a strategy to cut this man's throat. Not that she ever tried, but he was like a ninja.

Just one week ago she tried to stab him with the same knife she was currently holding but he quickly averted it.

The stabbing attempt was the same day she learned that Usui was still alive. Just after she finished to clean the study, he invited her to come downstairs to dress the table for dinner.

She remembered the lightness of all her movements as she glided down the stairs. She felt refreshed and liberated. She thought that as long as Usui was alive, she could stay trapped and wouldn't care.

She then began to dress the table but then, she looked at the knife. She unknowingly began to fantasize about Usui and about how much she thrived to see him. She thought about his proposal and how stupid her reaction was at the restaurant.

She continued to stare at the knife and without further thinking; the blade was an inch away from the man's neck, her wrist stopped by his hand. She thought her end was near. But curiously, he calmly put the knife away and invited her to eat her dinner because it was about to get cold.

He must be extremely lonely to be cool about a murder attempt.

So there she was, one week after. Every Sunday nights were the same. They would sit in front of each other and he would pretend that it was a romantic dinner and she would pretend that she was _sort of _enjoying it.

But the home phone rang which was unusual. She never considered he had friends or family. Sure he had a job, but he had a cellphone for that.

He also must have found this call odd because he decided to take the call outside the dinner room, away from Misaki's ear.

She fixed the table, trying to focus on his conversation. But she wasn't able to hear clearly.

Just when she gave up, a small object on the other end of the table caught her attention.

_His cellphone_

Too preoccupied by this unusual call, he had been careless and forgot it.

Before her brain had time to process the information, she threw herself at it.

"No, I said I don't need it" She could hear in the other room.

If she could now hear him, so he could he. That meant she couldn't call 911 because that would not be discrete.

She quickly pressed the "new message" button and typed the only number she knew by heart.

"I don't need a new alarm system, I already have one"

She never had typed so fast in her entire life. Her heart echoed in her ears.

"Ok, great. Now don't ever call me again. I'm hanging up"

She just had time to delete the message off the sent box and put the cellphone where it originally was when he came back in the room.

"You bust your ass to have a confidential number and those damn vendors manage to call you at dinner…God I hate them"

She nodded to his comment but secretly worshiped those vendors at that precise moment.

* * *

- _Still alive, been kidnapped. M.A.-_

Usui blinked once. Twice.

But still, the same message was written.

A wave of shock glided down his spine.

Was someone joking him? Few people were aware of his loss, but did someone was wicked enough to pull something like that?

He looked at the phone number, which was of course confidential. That meant he couldn't simply call back to see who was joking him.

He slowly sat down on the driving seat of his car, contemplating the message.

As he red it over and over, he began to picture Misaki.

Misaki not drowned.  
Misaki alive.  
Misaki in distress.

His feet were faster than his brain.

Before he knew it, he was running back to his office.

_Misaki is alive!_

This only thought awakened an exaltation that was hidden for so long.

Enchantment.  
Jubilation.  
Enthusiasm.

All state of emotions that the secretary of the crime scene department never saw on Usui's face.

"Is Haruko working today?" He frantically asked.

Haruko was an agent specialised in technology's network. If someone could manage to track the source of a call, it would be Haruko.

"No, he's off on weekends. Is it regarding an emergency?"

_An emergency?_

The love of his life he thought dead might be alive and she's asking if it's an emergency?

"A huge one. Could you patch him through my office please?" He asked, hardly hearing her answer as he raced towards his office.

_Misaki is alive._

His heart was beating like crazy, menacing to jump out his rib cage at any moment.

He sat on his chair and began to roll on it like a demented man.

"Mr. Usui, Haruko on line one for you" He heard the secretary said on the speaker of his phone.

He immediately threw himself at it.

"Haruko? Sorry to bother you on your day off, but do you remember the girl I talked to you about two years ago? I would need you to come A.S.A.P. at the office to help me track down the message I just got"

* * *

Haruko was one of the few persons that knew about Misaki. He began at the crime scene department less than 2 years ago after he just finished his baccalaureate in criminology and a master on technology components.

Usui had been assigned to train him but it was just a few weeks after the car's crash. To justify his fierce mood swings; Usui had no choice but to explain what happened.

Since then, Haruko had been a real friend for him and never let him down on a task Usui asked him.

Haruko entered Usui's office, dripping sweat drops.

"I came as quick as I could"

He took the cellphone Usui handed him over and connected it on a small device that was plugged on his computer.

"Ok so you'll have to call back the confidential source, even though we won't be able to obtain the full number, we'll be able to obtain the geographic location of the source. Talk to the person as much as you can so I can be able to track it on your computer" Haruko explained.

Usui took the phone as Haruko set the communication.

They waited but the communication failed to be established.

"Eeee… I'll try something else, just hold on.."

Haruko was starting to get nervous, knowing how much this was important for Usui. As for him, underneath his control, he was slowly suffocating.

After several attempts, Haruko disconnected the wires and looked at Usui, empathy drawn on his face.

"I'm sorry, it seems like the dude removed the battery of his cellphone or something…we can't do much more"

Usui sighed with affliction.

"But are you sure she has been kidnapped… well… that she's even alive…As far as we know, it might just be a bad joke from someone"

Usui glanced at him, at a loss of words. He had just expressed what he feared the most.

The agony on his face must have been scary enough to make Haruko leave.

So he stayed in the obscurity of his office, contemplating his second grief related to the same person.

* * *

It has been a few hours since she sent the text message. But for _god knows _what reason, he discovered it. Didn't she delete it? She could have swore that she did…

He was so mad that he threw it in the fireplace and locked her up in the cellar.

It has been four hours that he left her there, without having the chance to eat dinner.

As much as she was hungry, a discrete happiness fed her stomach and she didn't know exactly why.

Was it the fact that Usui was now aware that she was alive?

Or could it be the fact that how much bad she could screw up, the man would never find the strength to kill her?

He came back inside the cellar after those four hours, a plate of pastas in his hands.

"Sorry I lost my temper, I guess I got mad that you weren't happy enough to stay here, with me"

Misaki looked at him, disconcerted. She never realised he could actually believe to her act. Sure she was sometimes smiling to him, but it was only because she didn't want to get an electric shock.

And now that she was thinking about it, he never even tried to press the button to activate her electro-bracelet she had on her ankle. A new courage was discreetly rising in her.

He laid down the plate in front of her and took the fork to feed her.

"Can I do that myself?" She asked, trying to stay polite.

He looked at her and reluctantly untied her hands.

What happened next occurred very quickly.

As soon as her hands were free, she took the fork and hammered it in his neck. He tried to break free but the pain was too intense.

She continued to sink it in the deeper she could, feeling that she had the upper hand on the fight.

After one minute, he fainted due to the scalding pain.

She took the key that would free her feet and began to search for a cellphone.

With shaky hands, she buried her fingers in his pant's pocket to find one.

As she took it out, a badge fell from his pocket. She looked at it and understood that it was a police badge.

_Damn it, the police has been corrupted._

Without further thoughts, she rushed forward the staircase and ran towards the front door.

Her best chance was to follow the private path and hoped that it will lead her to the road. The house was so deep in the forest that it could take a while until she reached it.

She took his cellphone and decided to not call 911. As far as she knew, if this guy was a cop, he might have some buddies in the police who would be ready to help him. She couldn't take that risk.

So she dialled the number of the only person she desperately needed to talk for so long.

* * *

He didn't know how much time he passed on his office's chair since Haruko left.

He was tired. Extremely tired. But the fatigue didn't make him surrender yet.

Having figured out how to track a call by looking previously at Haruko, he tried over and over to have some kind of connection to track a location.

He was starting to wonder if it was insanity that made him chase someone that might not even exist.

_Or just desperate love. _

Too focused to establish a connection with his cellphone, he was surprised to hear it rang.

He answered, hoping it was Haruko who might have found a solution.

"Hello."

There was a strange noise of footsteps running.

"Usui?"

The voice froze him. _Her voice. _The voice he helplessly dreamt of every night.

His mind seemed to be broken as his thoughts raged, incoherent.

He collapsed on his chair, trying to pronounce something, but his voice was choked.

"…It's me, Misaki…"

Of course he knew who it was. But still, only silence was escaping his mouth.

He sat in the dusty darkness for a long, frozen space.

He heard her footsteps slow down, until her only breath was filling their silence. Then, there were soft broken sobs added to the mixture of silence and intense relief.

He held at the phone as if he was clinging to his own life.

They both didn't speak for long seconds, savouring each other presence, like the universe had stopped only for them.

"S-Sorry to bother you. It's been so long that I haven't figured out you must have a new life now…"

Her voice had a nervous edge, like she was suddenly unsure about the reason why she called him.

She must think that he forgot her.

_If only she knew how much she was wrong…_

"How could I have start a new life without you" He sighed.

There was long pause, the length of a few heartbeats.

"Then I'm glad. Because I need your help."

Carried away by this emotional tumult, he had forgot about the entire hostage situation.

"Of course, where are you?" He said as he restarted the tracking procedure, figuring that she probably didn't know the exact address.

"I'm not sure where I am exactly but I'm running away from the house, I will probably reach the main road soon. I couldn't call the police because the man who kidnapped me is a cop, I didn't want to take a chance. "

On the screen of his computer, he quickly obtained the location of where she was calling.

"Ok, you'll reach the main street in about 3 minutes. Once you do, hide yourself because we don't know the extent of his implication within the police. I'm about 15 minutes away, I'll have a silver Cherokee"

He explained, his words rushing out of his mouth.

"Ok, perfect. Bye?" She said, unsure about the future course of the events.

"No farewell necessary. I'll see you soon"

They both hung up as the promise of a better day was within easy reach.

Fifteen minutes, and their destiny would be flawless.

* * *

**Next chapter will be the epilogue. You'll have fluffiness, the outcome and something you might not have seen coming ;) If you have time, review this chapter. I read every single one of them and sometimes it makes me change some parts of the story. By example, I would have never thought to fake Usui's death to Misaki if someone had not make the suggestion ;) !**


	4. Finally

**Hello ! Sorry for the wait, the chapter was more long to edit than I expected. I really wanted to have all the emotions right for the last chapter :) It's kinda long but I could't cut anywhere without messing the story ****rhythm. So you might want to sip a cup of tea and chill out while reading at it. Hope you like it, fluffiness and surprises awaits you !**

* * *

She hid herself in the ditch near the road, behind some trees. Any car that would drive by would not notice her, but she will. That was the point.

Having handled the road part, she was still unsure about the forest behind her. The house that held her hostage was located a few kilometers away.

She could imagine the man, furious and enraged about her escape. She could imagine him running away from the house, searching for her behind every tree.

But for that to happen, he had to be alive. Considering the depth she dived the fork into his neck, this hypothesis was barely possible. Even if he weren't dead, he would surely be unconscious for another five minutes. The exact needed time for Usui to arrive.

A car passed by, driving unusually slow. But by the time it passed her, she noticed that its appearance wasn't near close from a Cherokee.

_Where is he, he must me there by now…_

She shivered, anticipating the moment when she will see him. Will it be awkward? Have he met someone during the time she had been kidnapped? She decided to not look to disappointed by this news, the probability of her being alive was after all was unimaginable…

Deep in her scenarios, she was startled by the noise she heard behind her.

_Oh crap…_

It was him, she was sure. She tried to see passed the trees, but the obscurity was too dense.

When she realized the source of all this agitation, she felt almost as relieved as the moment where she left the house.

_A tiny rabbit…_

Scrutinizing the small hairy intruder, she didn't hear the Cherokee pulled over. She only had time to saw the blinding lights of the car. And then, there was darkness.

She raised her upper body to identify the new comer in an attempt to not unveil her hidden place.

But there he was. The person she was desperately waiting.

She saw him analysing the place, a worried and anxious look on his face, probably due to the fact that he couldn't find her.

It didn't last long because she was already running towards him.

She stumbled across the gravel, which made him look in her direction.

His gaze met her and they both raced as fast as their legs could allow.

When finally they were inches away, he caught her up in his iron grip, crushing her to his body.

They stayed welded to each other, almost suffocating from their solid embrace.

His grip on her tightened and she felt his soothing breath tickled the contour of her neck.

She never felt so entire, so alive.

Although they were still breathing heavily, their respiration gradually returned to a normal rhythm.

He set her down, still holding her face as she saw herself reflected in the wide mirror of his eyes.

Her arms reached up to his neck and he drew her toward him for a long, intense open-mouthed kiss.

He pulled her tight to his body and dove his tongue deeply in the inside of her mouth as his hands grasped her hair.

Their lips parted. Both out of breath, Usui pulled her head into the warmth of his chest.

"I'm sorry" She murmured.

He continued to play with her hair, oblivious about the real meaning of her statement.

"You should be, you led me to falsely thinking that I've lost you"

She looked up and caught sight of his dazzling smile.

"I'm meant _sorry _for the kiss. Because I assume you've made a new girlfriend" She stated, a nervous edge in her voice, like she was suddenly unsure about her true intentions.

He gazed at her with eyes that were wide and serious, a defeated note shimmering.

"I can see you've lost your insight" He grinned although he was hurt she could assume something like this.

She looked at him, partially offended but utterly relieved.

"Yeah, obviously. There I was, thinking that an another woman than me could actually stand you"

Usui smiled. The extent of his ecstasy was priceless at this precise moment.

"I missed you…"

His whisper lingered between them, a smooth melody for her ears. She ran her fingers onto his wrist, tracing imaginary circles.

"I've _kind of _missed you too…"

They both laughed as they walked towards the car, hand in hand. Their passionate reunion made them almost forgot the imminent danger.

Usui started the car and moved into the road, all without letting go of her hand.

"Ok, so you've mentioned earlier that the man who kidnapped you was a cop? Do you think he might have accomplices in the police?" He asked, trying to focus on the main problem although he desperately wanted to forget about all of that and kissed the hell out of her.

"Maybe. I don't know. That guy was a psychopath, it's a miracle that he had been accepted to be a cop and a bigger miracle if he has friends" She explained.

"_Was _a psychopath?" He wondered, confuse about the past tense.

"Yeah. I dive a fork into his neck. So he must be dead, I assume" She stated.

"A fork? Damn, remind me to never piss you off…"

She softly hit his head, amused.

"You pissed me off more than once and yet, you're still alive" She joked.

He sneaked a look at her from the corner of his eyes, more than happy that they were finally reunited and were able to kid around just like old times.

"Ok, back to the problem. Psychopath and loner as he was, we'll assume that there is no accomplice. Therefore, we'll call the police right now and they'll let us know if he's really dead. In the mean time, we'll head towards my apartment and catch all the time we've lost"

He explained, a somewhat perverted grin on his face.

"If you know what I mean…" He continued.

Damn right, she knew what he meant and couldn't be more than pleased.

* * *

He slowly opened the entrance door, suddenly realizing the extent of the damages accumulated in the past months.

Misaki entered, analysing the place. There were beer bottles, trash and dirty dishes everywhere. The place was a dump since she last saw it.

"Usui… sorry to inform you, but I think you've been victimized of vandalism" She sarcastically declared.

He chuckled although he was ashamed of his missing cleaning abilities.

"The past years have been rough on me, I didn't feel like cleaning"

She looked at him and caught a glimpse of his vulnerability. She wasn't the only victim of this kidnapping after all…

As she was about to utter another joke about the state of his apartment to ease the atmosphere, the phone in Usui's pocket rang.

He answered, assuming it was the police.

"Usui? Congrats! I've heard about Misaki from the police department. You must be happy!"

It was Haruko, his geeky friend who helped him to track the phone call earlier that night.

"Yeah, very. I'm home and she's with me. Are you at the department?"

"No, I'm at that wacko's house. I've been appointed for the crime scene investigation. Say _bravo _to your girlfriend, it's a serious attack she has accomplished. I mean, a _fork_? There's blood everywhere!" He shouted, fascinated by the scene.

He glanced at Misaki, somehow proud of her.

"So do you mean he's…" Usui began but was cut by Haruko.

"…Dead? Dude, nobody could have survived to this. So yeah, he's dead. The police department asked me to deliver you the good news. Ok, back to business, need to go, see ya!" Haruko rushed, hanging up, without letting Usui say bye. Well, not that he cared.

He turned towards Misaki, his lips curling into a smile.

"Good news, your fork's attack has been successful"

Her gaze held his for several seconds, like she didn't heard. But she finally let out a relief sight and threw herself on the couch as she felt off-balance. Some beer cans and other unidentified objects rolled off and fell on the carpet. But she couldn't care less because her nightmare was finally over.

Usui headed towards the couch and crouched beside it, his head at the same level as her.

Her arm hiding her eyes, he couldn't see the relief. Even though he didn't ask her yet the extent of the hell she suffered those years, he could only assume that his death could be a balm to her mental injuries.

"I know one way to celebrate that" He stated, leaving her no time to reply. He picked her up from the couch, one arm below her legs and one arm underneath her shoulders.

He stepped over few leftovers covering the floor and walked towards the bedroom.

When he opened the door, it was like night and day.

"At least you know how to clean the room where you sleep" Misaki observed, surprise by the contrast. The bedroom looked exactly as the time she last saw it.

"I haven't slept for ages in it. At least, not since you've disappeared…" He said with half a smile.

That explained the _not-messy _part.

She walked quietly to the bed, contemplating the frozen space. There were photos of their numerous trips hung on the wall, posters of their favourite band and a lovely picture of them on the bedside table. This room brought her back so memories but it was probably for the same reason Usui chose to condemn it.

She sat on the bed and sneaked a look at him. He was also staring at all the pictures, enigmatic.

"You can start to believe it now" She whispered, the message destined for both of them. Since their reunion, they were finally able to breathe and realize it wasn't just a dream.

He walked across the room, leaned forward and laid his hands on the bed, each side on her hips.

"It's just so surreal" He murmured still holding her gaze.

His face was so close that she could feel his breath tickled her nose. The torment of wanting to touch him was palpable within her.

He brought his lips to the curve of her neck and she felt his warm tongue moved slowly over her skin, to her neck down her shoulder.

She pulled the collar of his shirt to draw him towards her but he was quicker and grabbed her roughly around the waist to fling her across the bed.

Her back touched the fabric and she arched it up to bring her body closer to his. He dove deeply his tongue in her mouth, tasting every inches of it. She sucked his tongue and moved her mouth against his.

Her hips maintained a divinely sensuous sway, feeling every muscles of his legs and stomach colliding rhythmically against her. They were both breathing heavily, their breath transforming into short pants. He unbuttoned her shirt with one hand and took off his with the other. The loneliness accumulated for the past years forged into a perfect symbiosis.

He played her body in a sensual and feisty way and when she finally lost that last edge of control before they went further, she heard him whispered to her ear:

"I'm starting to believe it"

* * *

That was great sex. The best sex they had as long as they could remember.

Entwined under the covers, they were both startled when they heard Usui's doorbell.

He stood up, reluctant to go out in the fresh air, away from Misaki's warmth.

_Who could find convenient to visit in the middle of the night?_

He walked across the living room and headed to the entrance. At the same moment he had reached the door, his cellphone rang on the hall table.

_Looks like a contest of who can piss me off the most…_

"**Yeah, hello**?" He answered the phone with a hoarse voice.

Behind the frosted doors, he identified the silhouette of his friend Haruko.

"** ? Here is Irie from the police department. I am now at the address you gave us but I regret to inform you that the kidnapper has escaped. But we can only see blood out here, he must be in bad shape…" **

This announcement echoed in his head just as he opened the door to Haruko.

_But Haruko said he saw the man dead…_

He couldn't make sense of the situation.

Just when Haruko flashed him a smile, Usui's heart started to hammer unexpectedly.

The policeman continued to speak over the phone but Usui had stop to listen a long time ago, shocked by the cloth drenched of blood wrapped around Haruko's neck.

A howl of rage strangled his lips but just when he took a step forward to strangle the man, Haruko pointed a gun on Usui's head.

"**Irie? I'm kind of busy right now, I will have to call you back"**

He then hung up and the room was filled with complete silence. Until…

"Usui? Where have you been, there I am, missing for two years and you're alread-" But she didn't get to finish her sentence, petrified by the horrifying scene.

Driven by a sudden rush of adrenalin, Usui pushed the gun aside and aimed it on Haruko's chest. He was about to pull the trigger when he heard Misaki yelled of agony.

His gaze shifted reflexively in her direction. Short jolts curled his body down and all of her moves were twitchy. He wanted to end her suffering but it was difficult since he had absolutely no idea of what was going on.

"Drop the gun and I'll stop"

Usui looked at him, noticing a small remote control in his hands.

"You shoot me and I'll electrocute her to death"

Her yelling was unbearable; he had to make him stop.

So he dropped the gun and ran towards Misaki who was now curled into a ball.

"What do you want, Haruko?" He exhaled sharply while helping Misaki to sit down.

"Your silence obviously…" He replied, sitting in front of them still holding the gun.

"W-Wait, you know him?" Misaki managed to ask, still shaking from the electroshocks.

"I thought I did… he's one of my co-workers. So that's not a cop badge you saw but his ID card from the crime scene department"

"So you've worked with him all along?" She asked, trying to make sense of this coincidence.

"Well, I didn't know back then…" He replied.

"But I did! Since the very first day…""

They both fixed him as their thoughts raged in their heads.

"You think it's a coincidence that I entered the CS department just after Misaki suddenly disappeared? Well, think again…"

They waited, fuming, and expectant.

"I have to admit that the car crash was an accident… I was drunk so it was destined to happen. But what was not ready to happen was my career going up in flames. Drunk driving? I would never have succeeded to get a job in criminology…"

He paused and polished the muzzle of his gun.

"Back at the river, I followed your two silhouettes in the current. I've tried to help, but I've lost sight of you, Usui. I assumed you had drowned. At one point I found Misaki who was still breathing. So I did what seemed to be logical at the time… I captured the only witness to, what I thought, a dangerous driving causing death"

"But you knew Usui wasn't dead! You forged an article clearly stating that he was alive!" Misaki protested as she glared defiantly at him.

"You're right. But when I did I had already fell under your charm…"

There was a certain vulnerability disguise in his voice. But Usui couldn't care less.

His grip on her tightened.

"But why the hell would you choose to work at the same place as me?" Usui asked to divert his dirty look from Misaki.

Haruko silently stood up as his eyes narrowed playfully.

"To keep you under my radar. I knew you wouldn't give up easily, so every time you came close to the truth, I guided you further away. It was particularly useful when you've called me to track the sms Misaki sent you. All I did was to erase it"

An intense fury made Usui's hands clench into fists. He was played all along and he was stupid enough to believe that he was his friend?

"And even more useful two hours ago, when I called you to inform you of my own fake death when all I needed was to know if you were home…"

.

"_Usui? Congrats! I've heard about Misaki from the police department. You must be happy!" _

"_Yeah, very__**. I'm home and she's with me**__. Are you at the department?"_

.

How could he have been so stupid! He even welcomed him to his entrance door.

"So now what?" Usui asked tersely as anger flashed in his eyes.

Haruko glared at him, misery on his features. Unexpectedly, a tear glided down his cheek.

"I never meant for this to happen. All I wanted was to have friends and a job that I've worked so hard to get…"

His voice was choked. He dangerously began to raise his gun, spasms shaking his hands.

"But I can't anymore. You both hate me and my footprints are all over my house. It's just a matter of time before the police connects the dots… "

He removed the safety of the gun with one click.

"That leaves me no choice…"

They tightened up their solid embrace, both silent to their cruel destiny. They closed their eyes, not wanting to know who will be the first to go. Because they both wanted to be the first: living even for one second without the other would be terrible.

They thought of racing towards him but it would be a waste. That guy had a military training so he knew how to shoot.

So they both stayed in the middle of the filthy space, waiting for their respective end.

A detonation was heard and they waited for the second one. But it didn't come.

They opened their eyes, realizing that none of them had been shot.

As they gazed at each other, mute of incomprehension, they heard a body collided with the ground. And then, dark blood flowed to them.

They didn't yell. They didn't cry. They just stayed hand in hand, contemplating the suicidal scene.

Usui checked his vital signs as Misaki kicked the gun away.

"He's dead. For good" Usui declared.

Misaki hid her eyes behind her purple locks, sensing a tear coming.

She didn't cry when she was kidnapped.  
She didn't cry for the way he treated her for those two years.  
She didn't cry when she saw him in this room.

So why would she cry when every thing was finally over? She hated to be the prey to her emotions.

Usui noticed her mental fight because he was having the same one in his mind.

His arms enlaced her waist and she was suddenly welded to his body.

So she let out the first and last tear she would ever cry for that despicable man.

Later, they will call the police to remove the corpse lying in the living room. They already knew that it would be to the biggest surprise of every one because Haruko was the favourite of the police sector.

But as for now, Usui brought Misaki in his garden, away from the scene of horror. She saw him kneel down which brought her back to the night of two years ago.

"Misaki, would you do me the honour and be my wife"

A red shade coloured her cheeks even if, unlike the night at the restaurant, there was no public, she was still embarrassed about the whole proposal thing. So she adopted a fake arrogant attitude to soothe her.

"I don't see the ring… how could I say yes without the ring"

Usui's lips curled into a smile, somehow ashamed.

"Sorry, I've _kind of _lost the ring. Truthfully, I threw it in a river…"

She was ready to retort something but she figured out it would break the moment seeing how pitiful he looked.

"What a romantic gesture…" She sarcastically replied, smiling.

So he laughed and they both laughed. She continued to oppose an argument at every thing he said, just figuring how much more time he could last on his knees. At some point, she finally said yes.

The reply she should have uttered a long time before. All Usui found to say was:

**"Finally"**

* * *

**"_Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet "_**

_Jean-Jacques Rousseau_

* * *

**So the journey is finally over ! Hope you liked it. Also, I would like to draw your ****attention to a tragedy that happened close from my university. You might have heard of it since it was broadcast on a international level. A train that transported oil exploded in the town centre of _Lac-Mégantic _and might have killed more than 50 persons. I know that every country have its own tragedies but this one affected my whole province (Québec). If you were affected by it because you know someone who knew someone who lost a person in it, my sincere condolences. **

_**Lac-Mégantic, 06/07/2013**_

**Oh and leave a review if you liked the story (also if you haven't, I can take criticism :-) **


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